Norway
In 1949 the King, Haakon VII decided to take a ruthless business approach to his role as monarch. This came after the Communist agitation on the Finnish border sent shockwaves through the nation. The King took control of Norsk Hydro (Metals) and formed Statoil (Oil and Gas) in an attempt to ensure that the Norwegian economy would be secure in the future (these companies control, in essence, all of Norway’s precious, raw materials.) Norway has been governed by an alliance of the Centre and Christian Democratic Party since 1952 when the Labour government was ousted from power over claims that it was receiving funds from the Soviet Union. The King and his business advisors have a great deal of influence over the running of the nation and while the Prime Minister is free to do certain things independently, it is known that if he took an anti-business policy, the King would be forced to dismiss the government. Norway is a midsized, nordic nation bordering Finland, Sweden and the Baltic sea. She is a small, capitalistic nation who's government is social-democrat in nature. The Government is very stable as it has been controled by the same two parties for a very long time and the King is happy with it. He uses very few of his reserve powers although he is very happy using his power over the business and his reserve powers over the parliament as a sort of omen to do his will. In 1991 King Haakon VII, incredibly forceful for a man of his age, decided to increase Norwegian presence worldwide. His strategy focused on improving the prestige of Norway abroad, international cooperation and bolstering scnadinavism. International Cooperation In 1992 the Queen Maud Development Aid Fund was created. The king, concerned about the world being more interested on waging wars than on helping itself to evolve, ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to create this fund, which would dedicate annual $0.1 billion budget to fund humanitarian projects. Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl was appointed to administrate the fund. The following projects received funding from the QMDAF: 1992 •Pakistan (0.2b for social projects) •AFF (0.2b healthcare investment) •Afghanistan (0.1b housing projects) 1993 •Czechoslovakia (0.1b housing projects) •Jordan (0.1b housing projects) In 1993 Norway actively participated in the Berlin International Educational Forum, where the creation of an international fund dedicated to promote educational projects worldwide was proposed. Promotion of Scandinavism King Haakon's proposal of a Scandinavian Defence Force was received with skepticism by the international community, and there was even a certain fear of Norway being annexed by Denmark. The proposal of the Treaty for Mutual Cooperation and Understanding between the Kingdom of Sweden & the Kingdom of Norway (TMCUSN for short) by Sweden was received with joy by the Norwegian government, which saw on the treaty an unique chance for scandinavism. The treaty comprised freedom of movement for swedish and norwegian citizens and eliminated the need of aditional documentation for university students. The treaty dropped trade restrictions between Denmark and Norway, though the norwegian government, concerned about its market being flooded by EEC products, imposed restrictions about which products could benefit from this drop of restrictions. The Scandinavian Defence Force was also part of this treaty, as well as an agreement for the norwegian company StatOil to access to Swedish territory for oil exploration. In 1993 the norwegian government began negotiations with the danish goverment for the signing of the Treaty for Mutual Cooperation and Understanding between the Kingdom of Denmark & the Kingdom of Norway. News concerning Norway July 1993 Soviet airliner land on the Aland islands Stockholm (QNN) -- An airliner full of civilians from the Finnish SSR landed today at the Mariehamn airport, the only real airport on the islands. Swedish customs officials greeted the civilians, requested passports and provided paperwork for entering Sweden. The approach, an attempt to peacefully continue asserting Swedish sovereignty over the islands has not been met with acceptance. The Finnish SSR civilians have so far refused to comply with customs officials, claiming that they are not entering a foreign nation, but part of the Finnish SSR. For the time being the civilians and the airline are stuck at the airport and the situation remains at an impasse. The Aland Islands have a population of roughly 20,000. They turned out en masse today to protest any attempt to establish a communist government. A significant number of ethnic Finns turned out calling for the restoration of the sovereignty of Finland from the USSR and from Sweden. "We are Finns and we are not communist," said one protester. We will never accept Russian oppression of the Finnish people. We all remember Sweden's support for us and choose to accept Swedish administration of the Aland Islands until Finland is once again free." While the airliner passengers are stuck at the airport and crowds rally in the streets, other nations have not been sitting by quietly. Norway, with the permission of the Swedish government has prepared a small force for deployment to Stockholm to help defend the Swedish capital in case of conflict. A number of naval ships also set sail to join the Swedish fleet. Swedish officials continue to insist that they will not engage in any military force against the USSR but refuse to relinquish their claims on the Aland islands. "There are roughly 20,000 Swedish citizens on the islands," the government stated. "Any course pursued by the USSR must recognize this fact and that we must continue to administer their communities. The rallies today show that they prefer Swedish administration. However, we absolutely reject any possibility of using military force against the USSR or any other nation. That is not in the interest of Sweden or the world." November 1992 Norway takes the cultural path. While many nations seems to be keen to get the doomsday clock forward, Norway takes an totally different way. The way of culture. Today the Norwegian government announced the building of the Great Opera House in Oslo. The government announced the following: Green light has been given to the construction of the Great Opera House in Oslo; the selected location is Bjorvika, in the Oslofjord. The building has been designed by the famous studio Snohetta and, in the words of Minister of Culture, "will be an example for everybody in an age where countries spend more money on ensuring their mutual destruction, Norway will build a beacon of culture, a symbol of beauty and life”. We at QNN are happy that we can still find news that hasn't anything to do with death or killing. How cultural the Norwegian people really are will be seen when the building has been finished.